MeToo activist Asia Argento settled sex assault complaint. / CBS
Asia Argento has pulled out of an appearance at Le Guess Who music festival in the Netherlands this weekend.
"Due to the volatile nature of the accusations surrounding Ms. Argento, she has chosen to withdraw from her curatorship of this year's edition, while these issues remain open,' said festival organizers in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com.
"Le Guess Who? supports her decision, as we consider it our responsibility to represent, to the best of our ability, the interests and integrity of all artists involved with our organization, and we strive to do this with sensitivity and respect.'
The statement went on to state: "Le Guess Who? still supports all curated artists and their artistic output, and intends to keep all these artists involved within the general program for the 2018 edition."
This news comes hours after the publication of text messages that were allegedly sent by Asia Argento to a friend on Monday reveal that the actress did in fact have sex with her former costar Jimmy Bennett when she was 37 and the boy just 17.
TMZ published the texts, including one that reads: "It wasn't raped but I was frozen. He was on top of me. After, he told me I had been his sexual fantasy since was 12."
One day later, Argento denied ever having sex with Bennett in a statement while suggesting the young man extorted her and late boyfriend Anthony Bourdain, who paid out the settlement.
TMZ also published an image reported to be a post-coital photo of the two taken in May 2013.
Friend: As in what does the public know and not know? Like which things are facts or not facts? It's an annoying question but I need to have a clear vision on what angles we have to send some folks to get good intel for us
Argento: The public knows nothing, only what NYT wrote. Which is one sided. The shakedown letter. The horny kid jumped me
F: So it was rape? Or an attempted secual action?
A: I has sex with him it felt weird. i didn't know he was a minor until the shakedown letter.
F: Either one is good enough to show You actively frowned upon his advances
A: No it was all on snapchat. Disappeared
I didn't report because I always felt bad for this Hollywood failed child actor, a casualty of the machine, of his parents
I have 80 pages on him by a PI that Anthony hired
F: Yeah we don't always think of ourselves in those time periods
A: All of Anthony's emails pushing me to accept pay. My emails with Carrie where we disagreed with that.
Jimmy Bennett (left) claims Asia Argento (right) slept with him in a hotel room when he was aged 17 and she was 37 which caused mental health issues and crippled his career. Photo / Instagram
Argento also allegedly claims to have been unaware that Bennett was a minor when they had sex in 2013 in the texts, despite raving about how talented the boy was when they met in 2003 on the set of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things on Twitter just months before their encounter.
In that tweet, posted in August 2012, she wrote: "At 7 you were already one of the most accomplished actors I'd ever met.'"
"The public knows nothing, only what NYT wrote. Which is one-sided. The shakedown letter. The horny kid jumped me," reads one text.
When asked if it was rape, the person reported to be Argento responds: "I had sex with him and it felt weird. I didn't know he was a minor until the shakedown letter."
The other person, who is not identified, then asks why she did not report the incident, which she responds to by saying she "always felt bad for this Hollywood failed child actor, a casualty of the machine, of his parents."
Then, in a move that seems to be directly out of the Harvey Weinstein's playbook, Argento allegedly reveals that a private investigator was hired by Bourdain to follow the boy and there are '80 pages' of notes in a text.
Argento also speaks of her plans should she lose work for this incident, stating that she would "move to Africa or the Amazon forest" in one text.
This alleged text conversation took place just after The New York Times published its piece on Argento's settlement with Bennett.
FURTHER TEXTS
Friend: Yeah still need to prove the money came from AB account
A: When I wwas 17 I wa with a 33 year old man for years
I had just turned 17
TMZ has obtained an image of Asia Argento and Jimmy Bennett in bed together. Photo / TMZ
"I strongly deny and oppose the contents of the New York Times article," said Argento in a statement on Tuesday.
"I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett."
She goes on to state that Bennett went after her because of her relationship with Anthony Bourdain, a "man of great perceived wealth' who 'had his own reputation as a beloved public figure to protect."
Bourdain paid the settlement despite the fact that it represented almost half of his cash and savings at the time, with court papers submitted after the chef's death revealing $425,000 of his $1.2 million estate was in cash.
"Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life," writes Argento in her statement.
She says that at the request of both Bourdain and Bennett, the matter was settled privately
That payout was only a fraction of the $3.5 million that Bennett had requested in the notice.
"This is, therefore, the umpteenth development of a sequence of events that brings me great sadness and that constitutes a long-standing persecution," claims Argento.
"I have therefore no other choice but to oppose such false allegations and will assume in the short term all necessary initiatives for my protection before all competent venues."
TMZ reported on Tuesday that Argento told Bourdain she was 'too broke' to pay the settlement, and the two referred to Bennett as a 'donkey' in text messages.
The New York Times broke the news on Sunday that Argento had paid actor Jimmy Bennett $380,000 when he filed a notice of intent to sue back in November.
In that notice, Bennett claimed that he was sexually assaulted by Argento in a California hotel room in 2013 when he was 17 and the actress 37, a decade after he first met her on the set of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.
Bennett was just 7 when he was cast to play the son of Argento's drug-addicted prostitute in the film, based on the popular novel by JT Leroy.
The film also starred Argento's then-boyfriend Michael Pitt, Winona Ryder, and McGowan's former fiancé Marilyn Manson.
Argento has a daughter Anna Lou Castoldi, 17, with singer Marco Castoldi and a 9-year-old son Nicola.
Argento has been at the forefront of the #MeToo for almost a year now after claiming she had been sexually assaulted by disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein.
She was one of the first to go public with her story, telling The New York she was allegedly assaulted by Weinstein at the1997 Cannes Film Festival.
Weinstein has denied these allegations.
Premiere party: Argento and her alleged rapist Weinstein at the premiere of The Heart is Deceitful at Cannes in 2004. Photo / Getty
Bennett's lawyer wrote in the notice that his client was sexually assaulted by Argento back in 2013 after being dropped off by a family member at a Marina del Rey hotel for a visit.
The teenager was unable to drive himself due to an eye condition which prohibits him from operating a motor vehicle.
The Times, citing a copy of the notice they were sent by an anonymous source, reported that Argento then sent the family member away and was alone with Bennett in her hotel room.
Argento then gave the minor "alcohol to drink and showed him a series of notes she had written to him on hotel stationery."
"Then she kissed him, pushed him back on the bed, removed his pants and performed oral sex," said the report.
"She climbed on top of him and the two had intercourse," according to the notice.
"She then asked him to take a number of photos."
Argento took a number of photos of herself and Bennett after the alleged assault, including one of the two lying naked in bed.
She also posted five photos from the pair's meet-up to her Instagram that day, starting with one of herself in which she wrote: "Waiting for my long lost son my love @jimmymbennett in trepidation #marinadelrey smoking cigarettes like there was no next week."
In her second post she shared a selfie of herself with Bennett and wrote: 'Happiest day of my life reunion with @jimmymbennett xox.'
In that same post, one follower wrote: "Asia cast him again!! xoxo."
Argento replied: "jimmy is going to be in my next movie and that is a fact, dig that jack."
When she was then asked if the film would shot stateside, Argento responded: "no we shoot the s*** in eye-2-ly 's @jimmymbennett's never been there - yet X."
Bennett never worked with Argento again however, and then in November filed his notice after the actress' very public condemnation of her alleged rapist, Weinstein.
"His feelings about that day were brought to the forefront recently when Ms. Argento took the spotlight as one of the many victims of Harvey Weinstein," stated Bennett's lawyer in the notice.
He then asked for $3.5 million in damages, sighting intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery.
The parties agreed to a settlement in April, and one month later Argento appeared at the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival.
In a speech that garnered much praise at the time she said: "In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old."
Argento continued: "Even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who have still to be held accountable for their conduct against women. You know who you are. But most importantly we know who you are. And we're not going allow you to get away with it any longer."
The actress then said Weinstein was no longer welcome at the festival.
The Italian star told the New Yorker that Weinstein raped her in 1997 at a party hosted by Miramax at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc. She claims the mogul led her to an empty room and asked her to give him a massage.
She reluctantly agreed, and halfway through he began to perform oral sex on her after forcibly lifting up her skirt despite her repeated requests for him to stop.
Argento says that she became suspicious when the party she arrived at was just an empty hotel room, but was assured that people would soon be arriving by Weinstein.
Then, he emerged from the bathroom in a robe and holding a bottle of lotion says the actress, who was just 21 at the time.
"He asks me to give a massage. I was, like, 'Look man, I am no f***ing fool','' said Argento.
"But, looking back, I am a f***ing fool. And I am still trying to come to grips with what happened."
The actress, who is the daughter of famed Italian director Dario Argento, said that once Weinstein began performing oral sex on her there was no way for her to stop him because he was so much bigger than her.
"It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare," said Argento, who eventually decided to pretend she was enjoying the act in hopes that it would end.
When it was over, Argento said she said on the bed and told her attacker: "I am not a whore."
He laughed at her and said he would put that on a shirt according to Argento, who said that Weinstein contacted her for months after the attack and even began offering her expensive gifts.
